Ill Concieved Plans Poorly executed

The end of running as I know it.

Running hurts, but in my case it really hurts. It started with shin splints but they sorted themselves out. It then progressed to Achilles tendonitis after stupidly sprinting to the end of a half marathon. I was on a mission to do a marathon at the time so I just eased back a little on the training until it didn't hurt too much and then carried on. It should have been a warning sign when I took a couple of pain killers before the start of the marathon, but I wanted to get round and after so long training a small pain in the heel seemed in significant in the bigger picture.

After the marathon I eased back massively on the miles. No point now I had run the race. The pain didn't go away. Well the pain in the Achilles moved down to my heel. At first it felt like my heel was bruised. The pain graduated to both heels feeling bruised and then pain, real pain, limping pain. The doctor confirmed my suspicions, Plantar Fasciitis or less technically pain in the heel due to overuse. Now I didn't think I was doing that much running compared to other people I know but then I do know some rather extraordinary people. The doctor said to rest and rest I did. I did very little for the next year and the pain slowly subsided. It was very frustrating, I wanted to run but knew that if I did it would result in me limping around and being generally useless.

Slowly the pain subsided to a point where I could convince myself that it wasn't there at all. At the start of this year I thought it was about time to give running another go. Nothing spectacular just a little jog round the village with the dog. At first things went well, just a few kilometres with no pain. Stupidly I thought my problems where over and that all was fine. So I upped the distance. Before long I was out a few times a week for a little trot. The dog loved it and I was really quite enjoying it too. There was hope that it was only a temporary problem and I was over the worst. But then it came back. The bruised feeling followed the pain. It had not gone away it had just lain dormant under the skin waiting for me to have another go before it leapt out to stop me in my tracks.

It was time to seek professional help. Our local Osteopath boasted a podiatrist and that seemed and obvious place to start. I had been helped by an Osteopath before and was reasonably convinced that it could help. I was told that my hips where out of line which lead to a curve in my back and one leg being longer than the other. This meant that one heel would be hitting the ground harder that the other leading to the sore heels. He told me that it wouldn't be an overnight cure and having rested it for a year I was willing to spend some time trying to get the problem fixed. Really all I want is some silver bullet or magic potion that will take the pain away for good but I realise that in the real world things like that just do not exist.

I'm now a number of sessions down the road and doing a little light running, nothing stunning just a small loop of the village. The dog is happy again as she gets a little run after her tea, but recently I have started to feel that brusied sensation I know and hate so much. Now I'm sure that my back is getting straighter and more flexible through all the manipulation that has been going on but I'm not sure that it is helping the problem. Maybe I'm just not cut out for running and I should abandon my desires to run distances in order to save my feet. Maybe I should consider concentrating on cycling and swimming, although there are very few (i.e. none) events which combine those disciplines. Does this signal the end of running, should I throw the towel in and accept that fate has dealt me a bad hand in the foot department. I just don't know.

It's all a little depressing really.